Gayle lost the toss but did not seem to mind batting first in the slightest. He swept the otherwise parsimonious Harbhajan Singh for six in the third over and took Ashish Nehra for a couple of fours in the next one.

Chanderpaul was totally dominated by his opening partner, and after being badly dropped by Ravindra Jadeja on 12 he did not really make good his escape. However it was no great loss to the West Indies cause when he was caught by Dhoni off Nehra in the 12th over with the score on 80 as he had garnered only 23 off 29 balls in that time.

Gayle, who should have been strolling back to the pavilion after skying a shot off Nehra only to see Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan collide as each man attempted to take the catch, was now swinging his extra-heavy bat at almost anything he fancied.

Sammy (19 off 10) and Kieron Pollard (17 off 11) helped keep the throttle on the floor as the four overs shared by spinners Jadeja and Raina disappeared for 50. It had been a truly dreadful week for Jadeja who had also dropped a catch and been despatched for several sixes against Australia.

Gayle hit his final six, contemptuously flicking a Zaheer Khan full toss over mid-wicket, to reach 94 with 10 balls remaining, but was denied his century when run out in the final over.

Mahendra Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan collide attempting to remove Gayle

India's batsmen went out to face the music on the same sort of fast-paced wicket that modern cricket is crying out for, and on which India had struggled against the Australian quicks.

It was a similar story again. After Murali Vijay had fallen to a fine catch by Pollard at deep square leg, Gautam Gambhir was given a working-over by Taylor before a throat ball was edged to Ramdin. It was like watching the West Indies of old.

In the eighth over Rohit Sharma dropped his bat, pointed to his forearm and made a TV sign with his hands in a desperate bid to get a caught-behind appeal by Pollard turned down. But umpire Billy Bowden gave the Indian right-hander out. Replays suggested Sharma may have had a point - it was an ugly incident all round.

Though he had removed Sharma, on this wicket the weak link in the attack was Pollard, and some inventive batting from Raina produced 17 runs from the medium pacer's second over.

Any remaining doubt about the outcome of the match seemed to be eliminated when Raina top-edged a sweep off Gayle and Sammy barely had to move to take the catch at deep square leg.

But India fought on. Pathan hit two sixes off Gayle, who might have regretted bowling a second over, and Dhoni got stuck into Bravo. Consequently, they kept in touch with a required run rate of about 12.5 per over.

But West Indies' fastest bowler Roach returned to have Pathan caught at fine-leg off another well-directed bouncer, and Indian hopes rested squarely with Dhoni.

Batting is supposed to be our strength, and we should chase 170 in these conditions

Mahendra Dhoni

Wavell Hinds gave Dhoni a chance by dropping him at deep extra cover, but a direct hit from the deep by Bravo finally ended his involvement.

Roach sent down four wides and a no-ball in the penultimate over, but even after all that 19 were needed from the final over - which was always going to be too much for the tail-enders.

India stayed alive in the tournament thanks to Australia's comprehensive win in the later game against Sri Lanka, but will still need to beat Sri Lanka themselves to harbour any thoughts of the semi-finals.

Gayle was pleased to put a smile on the faces of West Indies fans.

He said: "It was a good win, just what we needed. I was under pressure, not just cricket-wise, but I was also given so much support. So it was important to play well myself."

Dhoni said: "The batting hasn't been up to expectations. The bowlers have done decently, give or take a few overs here and there. Batting is supposed to be our strength, and we should chase 170 in these conditions."

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